The
meeting for November got off to a great start with a huge turnout. Lynn
Monlezun, the President, started with some general announcements followed
by Mike Monlezun introducing our guest speaker, Rebecca Smith from Dynamac
Corporation.

Rebecca has the enviable job as a field biologist
at the Kennedy Space Center. She gave an excellent overview of the myriad
of habitats in the relatively small area covered
by the Space Center. Rebecca then broke down the studies going on and the
various species of reptiles and some other federally listed animals, such
as Scrub Jays, that are indigenous to the area. One of the highlights was
the Gopher Tortoise, which is fairly common on the grounds and often needs
to be relocated - which she explained can be as easy as moving them across
a field or as difficult as digging them out of their burrows with the
expert help of an artistic backhoe operator. Another highlight was the
Eastern Indigo Snake. Although not exactly common, the Indigo is
frequently found on the grounds at the Center and there are several
studies in progress concerning them. After a short question and answer
period, Elvis – the MOSH’s own 6 foot long Eastern Indigo Snake came
out for us to see. A beautiful snake, indeed. Rebecca gave an excellent
presentation accompanied by some beautiful slides, which were operated by
her mom. Thanks, Rebecca.

The meeting was rounded out with a raffle of many
plants, magazines and other herp-related
items donated by various members.

Next month’s meeting will be the annual
members-only Christmas Social. The following January meeting has Dr.
Richard Blaney scheduled to speak about kingsnakes, ratsnakes and the
subspecies concept. Come out and join us.